
Book '" to / 



THE ENCHANTED MESA 



F. W. HODGE, 

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 




[REPIilNTED FROM ThE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE, VoL. VIII, 

No. 10, October, 1897] 



WASHINGTOX, I>. C. 
JUDD A DkTWEILEK, PKINTEKS 

1897 




THE ENCHANTED MESA 

By F. W. Hodge, 
Bureau of American Ethnology 

The pueblo of Acoma, in western central New Mexico, is the 
oldest settlement within the limits of our domain. Many of the 
walls that still stand on that beetling peilol were seen by Coro- 
nado during his marvelous journey in 1540, and even then they 
were centuries old. 

The valley of Acoma has been described as "the Gardenof 
the Gods multiplied by ten, and with ten equal but other won- 
ders thrown in ; plus a human interest, an archeological value, 
an atmosphere of romance and mystery;" and the comparison 
has not been overdrawn. Stretching away for miles lies a beau- 
tiful level plain clothed in grama and bound on every side by 
mesas of variegated sandstone rising precipitously from 300 to 
400 feet, and relieved by minarets and pinnacles and domes and 
many other features of nature's architecture. About their bases 
miniature forests of pinon and cedar are found, pruned of their 
dead limbs by native wood-gatherers. Northwestward, Mount 
Taylor, the loftiest peak in New Mexico, rears its verdant head, 
and 20 miles away to the westward the great frowning pine- 
fringed Mesa Prieta, with the beautiful vale of Cebollita at its 
feet, forms a fitting foreground to every dying sun. 

But none of these great rock-tables is so precipitous, so awe- 
inspiring, and seemingly so out of place as the majestic isolated 
Katzimo or Enchanted Mesa, which rises 430 feet from the middle 
of the plain as if too proud to keep company with its fellows ; 
and this was one of the many wonderful homesites of the 



274 THE ENCHANTED MESA 

Acomas during their wanderings from the mystic Shipa))U in 
the far north to their present lofty dwelling place. 

Native tradition, as distinguished from myth, when uninflu- 
enced by Caucasian contact, may usually be relied on even to 
the extent of disproving or verif^'ing that which purports to be 
historical testimony. The Acoma Indians have handed down 
from shaman to novitiate, from father to son, in true prescrij)- 
torial fashion for many generations, the story that Katzimo was 
once the home of their ancestors, but during a great convulsion 
of nature, at a time when most of the inhabitants were at work 
in their fields below, an immense rock}' mass became freed from 
the friable wall of the cliff, destroying the only trail to the sum- 
mit and leaving a few old women to perish on the inaccessible 
height. What more, then, could be necessary to enwrap the 
place forever after in the mystery of enchantment? 

This tradition was recorded in its native purity some twelve 
years ago by Mr Charles F. Lummis, who has done so much to 
stimulate popular interest in this most interesting corner of our 
country, and the same story was repeated by Acoma lips to the 
present writer while conducting a reconnaissance of the pueblos 
in the autumn of 1895. During this visit, desiring to test the 
verity of the tradition, a trip- was made to the base of Katzimo, 
where a careful examination of the talus (especially where it is 
piled high about the foot of the great southwestern cleft (PI. 32, 
33) up which the ancient pathway was reputed to have wound 
its course) was rewarded by the finding of numerous fragments of 
pottery of very ancient type, some of which were decorated in a 
vitreous glaze, an art now lost to Pueblo potters. The talus at 
this point rises to a height of 224 feet above the plain, and there- 
fore slightly more than half-way up the mesa side. It is com- 
posed largely of earth, which could have been deposited there 
in no other way whatsoever than by washing from the sun)n)it 
during periods of storm through many centuries. An examina- 
tion of the trail to a point within 60 feet of the top exhibited 
traces of what were evidently the hand and foot holes that had 
once aided in the ascent of the ancient trail, as at Acoma today. 
Even then the indications of the former occupancy of the En- 
chanted Mesa were regarded as sufficient and that another one 
of many native traditions had been verified by archcologic proof. 

Enchanted Mesa has become celebrated during the last sum- 
mer through the reports of the expedition of Prof. William Libbey, 
of Princeton, who, after several days of effort, succeeded in seal- 



NAT. GEOG. MAG. 



VOL. VIII, 1897, PL. 33 




THE GREAT SANDSTONE CLEFT OF THE MESA 

Through this cleft the traditional trail passed, and distinct traces of it are to be seen 
on each side of the vertical fissure to the right of the upper ladder 



THE ENCHANTED MESA 275 

ing the height, in the latter part of July, by means of a life-sav- 
ing equipment. It would seem that Professor Libbey neglected 
to search for relics in the talus, that he devoted no attention 
to the great southwestern cleft or cove up which the trail was 
reputed to have passed, and that after spending some three hours 
on the narrow southern extension of the mesa tojD, awaiting the 
arrival of a ladder from Acoma to conduct him across a fissure, 
he employed the remaining two hours in a reconnaissance of 
the wider and more interesting part of the height, finding noth- 
ing that would indicate even a former visit by human beings.* 

While engaged in archeologic work in Arizona and later in 
Cebollita valley in western central New Mexico, some 20 miles 
westward from Acoma pueblo, I was directed to visit Katzimo 
once more in order to determine what additional data of an arche- 
ological nature might be gathered by an examination of the 
summit. The knowledge gained by the previous visit made it 
apparent that a light equipment only would be necessary to ac- 
complish the task. Procuring an extension ladder, comprising 
six 6-foot sections, some 300 feet of half-inch rope, and a pole- 
pick, together with a number of bolts, drills, etc., which after- 
ward were found to be needless, I proceeded to Laguna, the 
newest, 3'et the most rapidly decaying, of all the pueblos, on the 
Santa Fe Pacific railroad. Here I was fortunate in enlisting 
the services of Major George H. Pradt, who has served as a 
United States deputy surveyor in that section for nearly 30 
years ; Mr A. C. Vroman, of Pasadena, California, a few of whose 
excellent photographs are here reproduced, and Mr H. C. Hayt, 
of Chicago. Much of the success of the little expedition is due 
to the untiring aid of these gentlemen, and for many creature 
comforts I am indebted to the Messrs Marmon, whose beautiful 
little home at Laguna has delighted the heart of many a weary 
wayfarer in that sunny land. 

Leaving the railroad September 1, we proceeded with two 
farm wagons, each drawn by a very small black mule and a 
large white horse, driven by two sturdy Laguna boys. The road 
trends westward for about seven miles, then turns southward 
through a rather wide valley scarred with arroyas and lined with 

* Had the explorer crossed to the northern part of the mesa by means of a bench a 
few feet below the summit of the rocky sonthern tongue, it would not have -been neces- 
sary for him to spend most of his time so fruitlessly in awaiting the arrival of means to 
cross the fissure. The ladder was found as Professor Libbey had left it, but was taken 
down by one of the Indians, who followed the bench mentioned, in order to secure the 
rope for his own use. The ladder is the short one shown in PI. 33, the photograph 
having been made during the descent. 



276 THE ENCHANTED MESA 

fantastically carved sandstone cliffs. The summit of Mesa En- 
cantada is visible for several miles ere the vale of A com a is 
reached, and as one enters the valley proper he cannot fail to 
appreciate the wisdom dis[)layed by the natives in the selection 
of the beautiful, grassy, mesa-dotted plain that has been their 
home for so many generations. 

The next day was spent in the village witnessing that curious 
anomaly of paganism intermixed with Christianity, known as the 
Fiesta de San Estevan. On the morning of the 3d an early start 
was made for Mesa Encantada, which lies three miles northeast- 
ward from the pueblo, just within the eastern boundary of the 
Acoma grant, in latitude ?A° 54' N., longitude 107° 34' W. 

The remainder of the forenoon was employed in making camp 
in the little grove of cedars at the base of the cleft near the south- 
western corner of the height, in unpacking apparatus, and in de- 
termining the altitude of the mesa above the western i)lain. The 
observations of Major Pradt show that the elevation of the foot of 
the great talus slope above the plain is at this point 33 feet, the 
apex of the talus 224 feet above the plain, and the top of the 
highest pinnacle on the summit of the mesa overlooking the cleft 
431 feet* above the same datum. (PI. 32.) 

The start from camp was made at noon. The ascent of the talus, 
in which the potsherds had been observed in such considerable 
quantities two years previously, was made in a few minutes, the 
ladders, ropes, and photographic and surveying instruments 
being carried with some effort, since climbing, heavily laden, at 
an altitude of 6,000 feet, in a broiling sun, is no trifling labor ; but 
the real work began when the beginning of the rocky slope of the 
cleft was reached. One member of the party, taking the lead, 
dragged the end of a rope to a convenient landing place, where a 
dwarf pinon finds sufficient nourishment from the storm-water 
and sand from above to eke out a precarious existence. Fastening 
the rope to the tree, the outfit was hauled up, and the other 
members of the party found a ready means of ascent. The next 
landing was several feet above, at the base of a rather steep pitch 
of about twelve feet. This wall, although somewhat difficult to 
scale, may be climbed with greater or less safety by the aid of 
several small holes in its face. These holes were doubtless made 
artificially,but as the narrow pathway at this point is now a drain- 

* These elevations were determined trigonometrically V)y means of an engineers' 
transit, using a base-line of CGO feet measured opposite the cleft, the oV)servations fro.n 
the northern end of tlie line giving 4:j() feet and from the southern end 4:i2 feet ; mean, 
431 feet. 



THE ENCHANTED MESA 



277 



age course during periods of storm, the soft sandstone has become 
so much eroded that they have apparent]}' lost their former shape. 
The cHff at this point was readily surmounted with the aid of 
two sections of the ladder, a rope being carried over the slope 
above and secured to a large bowlder in the corner of a conve- 
nient terrace some 60 feet below the summit. 

This was the point which I reached during the 1895 visit. At 
that time I spent several minutes on this ledge, making diligent 




FIG. I— ENCHANTED MESA FROM THE SOUTH 

search on the walls of the cove for evidences of pictographs, but 
finding none. This does not signify that none ever existed, for 
both here and elsewhere about the cliffs great blocks of stone 
have fallen away so recently that their edges have not yet had 
time to round by erosion, and the now exposed faces of their 
former abiding places on the cliflf wall are yet unstained by 
weathering. (See Fig. 1.) 



278 THE ENCHANTED MESA 

The bowlder previously alluded to rests in a corner of the ter- 
race below a long crack that extends the entire height of the 30 
feet of wall (PI. 33), just as it had appeared to me before, and 
I well remember viewing the chasm while seated on it. I note 
these circumstances, since one of the first things that met my 
gaze on reaching this point during our late climb was a collection 
of four oak sticks, lying beside the bowlder, that I am sure were 
not there during my previous climb. They were about 2h feet in 
length, an inch thick, and had been freshly pointed at eacb end 
with a sharp tool, evidently a hatchet. Their occurrence here 
suggested a careful investigation of the fissure above, which re- 
sulted in the finding of a regular series of pecked holes, appar. 
ently very ancient, for their edges had been so eroded that they 
are now visible only on close examination. So shallow, indeed, 
had the holes been worn that I at once saw that while the pointed 
sticks afforded an indication of the former use of the holes, it 
would have been impossible for the latter to have been employed 
as a means of scaling the Avail in modern times. I therefore con- 
cluded that the sticks had recently been left there by one who 
desired to gain access to the summit, but had failed in the at- 
tempt. This conclusion was confirmed immediately afterward 
when I found, almost beneath the bowlder, a sherd of typical 
modern Acoma pottery and an unfeathered prayer-stick, and a 
few moments later Mr Hayt dug from the moist sand in the 
corner other fragments of the same vessel, evidentl}' the remains 
of a sacrifice, which, had it been accessible, would doubtless have 
been deposited on the summit. It should here be said that the 
difference in ancient and modern Acoma ceramics is far greater 
than between modern Acoma and Zuhi ware, for exami)le, and 
it requires no very intimate acquaintance to enable anybody to 
readily distinguish the one variety from the other in the latter 
types. 

After making this interesting find we proceeded to fit together 
the entire ladder in order to scale the 30 feet of sheer wall now 
before us. Selecting the middle of the eastern face of the cove 
as the most convenient and least hazardous point of ascent, the 
ladder was adjusted and carefully raised, section by section, until 
it reached the lower part of the sloping terrace above. Two 
holes were then pecked in the soft sandstone floor to prevent 
the now almost vertical ladder from sli|)ping forward down the 
chasm. Again a member of the party went forward, drawing 
with him a rope fastened about tlie waist, the remaining three 




— u >- 






THE ENCHANTED MESA 279 

(the Indians stayed below) holding the ladder as rigidly as pos- 
sible ; yet it swayed and creaked and bent like a reed until the 
top was reached, and it required no little care to step from an 
upper rung to the dizzy sloping ledge without forcing the ladder 
from its insecure bearing. The shelf was gained in safety, how- 
ever ; the rope was tied to a rung and made fast around a large 
block of stone on the terrace to the left. . The others ascended, 
one by one, each with the rope tied around his chest and drawn 
about the rock by the leader as a measure of precaution. Then 
the equipage, wrapped in blankets, was fastened to the end of a 
rope thrown to the two Indians below and drawn up, piece by 
piece. The remainder of the ascent was made without difficulty. 
The time consumed by the entire climb was somewhat over two 
hours. 

If the view from the valley at Acoma is beautiful, that from 
the summit of Katzimo is sublime. Mesa Prieta was sullen 
still, and the pink mesas, haughty in their grandeur from the 
plain, now seemed to realize their insignificance in the light of 
the glories beyond. Placid little pools, born of the storm the 
day before, lay glinting like diamonds on an emerald field, while 
old Mount Taylor tried in vain to lift his lofty head above the 
clouds that festooned the northern horizon. 

The summit of Encantada has been swept and carved and 
swept again by the winds and rains of centuries since the ances- 
tors of the simple Acomas climbed the ladder-trail of which we 
found the traces. The pinnacled floor has not always appeared 
as it is today, for it was once thickly mantled by the sherd-strewn 
soil that now forms a goodly part of the great talus heaps below. 
The walls of the dwellings, undoubtedly of the sun-baked mud- 
balls that Castaneda describes, must have been erected on this 
soil stratum, for the native finds in earth, when he has it, a bet- 
ter footing for his walls than he does on bare rock, and one may 
readily see that the film of soil that still remains occurs in jjlaces 
that would have aff'orded the best sites for dwellings. (PI. 34.) 

The day before was a day of storm ; it even rained hard 
enough to drive an Indian from his religion, and yet not a cup- 
ful of water found a resting place on the entire mesa surface save 
in a few " potholes " eroded in the sandstone. The water had 
poured over the brink in a hundred cataracts, each contributing 
of the summit's substance to the detritus round about the base 
as in every storm for untold ages. 

There is little wonder, then, that I despaired of finding even 



280 



THE ENCHANTED MESA 



a single relic when we had reached the top of the trail and looked 
about at the destruction wrought ; and 3'et we had Ijeen on the 
summit only a few minutes when Major Pradt found a sherd of 
pottery of very ancient type, much crackled b}' weathering. This 
fragment is of plain gray ware, quite coarse in texture, with a 
degraissant of white sand. 

Beginning at the eastern side we immediately began to explore 
the rim of the escarpment, in a short time encountering the rude 
monument which had been observed bv Professor Libljev. who 




FIG. 2 -AN ARTIFICIAL MONUMENT ON THE SUMMIT 

expresses the opinion that it may have found its origin in ero- 
sion ; but it seems to me, as I think it will appear to any one 
who will examine the accompanying illustration (Fig. 2), that 
only a glance is necessary to determine bej^ond all doubt that the 
pile could not have been erected save by the hand of man. 
The structure stands on a natural floor of sandstone at the edge 
of the eastern cliff, and consists of a narrow slab some 30 inches 
in length held erect by smaller slabs and bowlders about the base, 
the stratification of the upright slab being vertical, that of the 
supporting stones horizontal. It would have been impossible 
for the structure to have originated by any but artificial means. 



THE ENCHANTED MESA 



281 



The reconnaissance of the eastern rim was continued north- 
ward and of the western edge southward, but no further evi- 
dences of aboriginal occupancy were observed. The sun Avas 
lowering, so that we were compelled to suspend the investigation 
in order to make preparation for our night's camp. After sup- 
per, Mr Vroman and Mr Hayt built a huge fire, for the evening 
air at this altitude is very chilly. We passed the night in ques- 
tionable comfort and were out of our blankets at dawn. After 
a hasty breakfast, we immediately began a survey of the mesa 




FIG. 3 — THE ENCHANTED MESA FROM THE SOUTHEAST 

rim, and while thus engaged were somewhat surprised to find 
three Acomas among us. They were scarcely friendly at first ; 
indeed, according to the story of our two Lagunas, who had 
spent the night in the camp below, they had seen our fire and 
had come with the avowed intention of compelling us to de- 
scend, even if they had to threaten to cut down our ladder. A 
little explanation, however, coupled with the information that 
we kept our coffee and sugar in a crevice beyond the camp fire, 
soon appeased any wrath that may have been concealed in their 
bosoms and induced communicativeness. 

These three natives were Luciano Cristoval, teniente of the 



282 THE ENCHANTED MESA 

tribe and a medicine priest ; Luis Pino and Santiago Savaro, 
principales. After careful inquiry in regard to the tradition of 
the former occupancy of Katzimo, Luciano informed us that 
" the elders " had lived there so long ago and the storms in his 
country were so destructive that we could now hardl}' expect to 
find any remains on the surface of the mesa. When we told him 
and his companions that a potsherd had already been found, 
they became deeply interested and manifested no little anxiety 
to find other evidences of the lofty homesite of their ancestors. 
I think there can be no doubt that this was the first visit of any 
of the present Acomas to the mesa to}). They evinced much 
curiosity in the place, and were greatly surprised when we took 
them to the stone monument, of which they could give no satis- 
factory explanation. It is needless to say that the natives did 
not intimate that the pile was due to natural causes. 

As already stated, the Indians were deeply interested in find- 
ing further evidence of occupancy, and I encouraged them to 
search for relics. They had proceeded only a few yards, accom- 
panied by Major Pradt, when the teniente found a fragment 
of ancient pottery quite similar to the sherd i)icked up the 
evening before. A few moments later several more fragments 
were found (two of them of different kinds of indented ware), as 
well as a portion of a shell bracelet still bearing evidence of con- 
siderable wear, and a large arrowpoint. Soon after the keen-eyed 
Luciano discovered near the northern rim of the mesa the blade 
end of a white stone ax, on the edge of which several small 
notches had been made. The exposed side of this implement was 
thoroughly bleached and crackled, while the side in contact with 
the ground was stained and still damp when the finder handed it 
to me. After descending the mesa the same Indian exhibited 
the blade end of another ax which showed a portion of the groove 
and which was notched similarly, to the other. He had found it 
on the summit, or rather on a ledge a few feet below the summit. 
Both Mr Ilayt and myself tried to purchase it, but the Indian 
refused to part with the specimen, as he was a medicine priest 
and desired to keep it for ceremonial use. Like the other imple- 
ment, this ax was thoroughly bleached on one side by weather- 
ing, tiie unexposed side being stained through contact with the 
lichen-covered ground. 

We descended the mesa about noon of the second day (Sep- 
tember 4), having spent about 20 hours on the summit. During 
this time I employed every opportunity in making a critical 



THE ENCHANTED MESA 



283 



STQffr A/tcmuMeAir 







Enchanted Mesa 
new mexico 

Surveyed in 1897 

BY GEORGE H.PRADT 

Scale 



FIG. 4— MAP OF THE MESA SUMMIT 



2S4 THE ENCHANTED MESA 

study of the general features of the top of Katzimo throughout 
the 2,500 feet of its length (see Fig. 4), devoting special consid- 
eration to the topography of the site, the erosion, the earthy de- 
posits, the drainage, and the great cedars that stand gaunt and 
bare or lie prone and decaying because their means of subsistence 
have been so long washed away, and I was forced to the conclu- 
sion that had house- walls, whether of stone or adobe, ever existed 
on the summit at a reasonably remote period, there is no possi- 
bility that any trace of them could have remained to this day. 
The abundance of ancient relics in the talus, the distinct remains 
of the ladder-trail, the specimens found on the summit coupled 
with the destruction wrought b}'' nature, the tradition itself — all 
testify to the former habitation of the site. 

To the Acomas Katzimo is still enchanted, and as a subject in 
the stud}^ of mysticism the man of science must yet regard it. The 
lore of a millennium is not undone by a few hours of iconoclasm. 




SBSSB 



